"There's a signpost up ahead..."

The original Twilight Zone is one of my all-time favorite television shows.  I fondly recall watching them in syndication when I was a kid, and, later, freaking out when I discovered them again on late-night TV in college.  Before DVDs were commonplace, I would set my VCR every New Year's Eve for the Sci-Fi Channel Twilight Zone marathon.  That's how crazy I was about TZ.

When Sideshow Collectibles had the License to do Twilight Zone action figures, I picked up the Gremlin from "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," and the Kanamit from "To Serve Mankind," and I proudly displayed them in my home.  Family and friends that were the farthest thing from comic/sci-fi fans would recognize one or the other and we'd talk about how much we loved those old episodes.

In today's world, where anything and everything has it's own action figure, Twilight Zone collectibles are seriously lacking.  That's why I'm so excited about Bif Bang Pow's new line of Twilight Zone bobble heads.  First up were the Invader and the Mystic Seer bobble head.  They sold out instantly, but another batch is due in October.  The Mystic Seer is from the "other" William Shatner episode, "Nick of Time," and is such a cool little piece of TV memorabilia.

November brings us the third TZ bobble head, Talky Tina, from the episode, "Living Doll."  As her name suggests, the Talky Tina bobble head actually talks, which was one of the spine chilling aspects of the episode.

So, if you're a TZ fan like me, or you're looking for a gift this holiday season for a fan of the show, definitely check out the Twilight Zone bobble heads from Bif Bang Pow.

The Responsibilty of Legitimate Businesses

I consider Alter Ego Comics to be a legitimate business.  Anyone can setup a website and sell stuff, but not everyone can open a physical location, staff it, have a customer service phone number, pay the rent, utilities, taxes, etc.  Those are the signs of a legitimate business.

Another sign of running a business that's on the "up and up," is not accepting orders for a product until it's been officially solicited by the manufacturer.  For example, we just received the official solicitation information for the Hot Toys Dark Knight 1:6 Scale Batman (Sonar) MMS DX action figure.  It's being distributed in the United States by DC Direct.  Many websites have been accepting orders for this item for months, but they had no confirmation of the price, the release date, nor how they were going to get it from outside of the United States.  We chose to wait for confirmation, (as we always do), from DC Direct before listing it.

As with any business, you should always research who you're buying from to make sure that they're "legitimate." It's our responsibility as business owners to provide our customers with accurate information and the best customer service.  If you have any questions, please give us a call at 419-224-6700, Monday-Friday, from 10am-5:30pm, eastern time.  We'd be happy to talk to you.

Keeping the Industy Alive

Gail Simone, the current writer of Wonder Woman comic books, posted a column recently about people that love comic book characters, but don't read comic books.  She says, "Those people may not all read comics, but they are every bit as much a fan as we are. I think it’s time we all admit that the secret stuff that we loved, the stuff we thought only we knew about, has caught on with the outside world and will continue to do so."  I think that it's our job as fans of comics, to really go out of our way to evangelize comic books, and encourage those fans to read comics, whether they are current storylines, or classic ones from the past that are collected in trade paperbacks and hardcovers.  


Know someone that loves "The Dark Knight?"  Hand them a copy The Killing Joke, Joker, or Hush.  If they liked Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man, point them towards Matt Fraction and Salvador Larocca's Invincible Iron Man series.  And if they are a fan of Wonder Woman, Simone's run is a great place to start.


The same can be said about the "collectibles" industry.  One of the great things about products from companies like Sideshow Collectibles, is that many of them are perfect for movie fans.  Things like the Fertility Idol from Raiders of the Lost Ark, or the Iron Man Arc Reactor Replica from Iron Man would look cool in any film buff's home or home theater.  


And with Sideshow's new Disney license, you should point Disney fans to their new premium format figures, like the Evil Queen.

I firmly believe that there are plenty of people out there who are not in the know when it comes to comic books and collectibles, that could become part of our tribe if only they are shown the way.  It's up to each of us to act as ambassadors to them to keep these industries alive.

Khan!!!

As a comic book store owner, I'm a fan of all kinds of geek stuff.  From tech gadgets, to science fiction, to, of course, comic books.  But, there are few things that I love more that Star Trek, especially, the Original Series.

One of the coolest Star Trek items that I own is the Diamond Select Toys Wrath of Khan Enterprise from Star Trek II.  It looks great, it sounds great, and it's just plain awesome.  Check out this video to see what I mean, (not my video, but shows off the ship fairly well):



The Wrath of Khan Enterprise has been out of stock at the manufacturer for a very long time, but they're back in stock now, and worth the measly $35.00 + shipping that it will run you.  It will make you feel young.

Comic Store Owner Loves the Kindle

I make my living selling printed material...comic books, (as well as comic-related items at Alter Ego Comics), but I've gotta tell ya, I love Amazon's Kindle.

I bought one for my wife for mother's day this year, and she's made the leap from printed books to electronic versions. I decided to give it a try, and bought a book last week for the Kindle.

I should start by telling you that I get very sleepy when I read black text on white pages.  I'm sure that it has something to do with my eyesight, and I really should see an eye doctor, but that's a post for another time.

Reading on the Kindle does not make me tired.  I can breeze through multiple chapters of reading with no sleepiness whatsoever. Also, I happened to buy a hardcover book a few days before I bought the Kindle book, and I thought about taking both of them to my son's football game last weekend.  Then I thought, I don't want to carry the Kindle and a hardcover book.  From here on out, I'm going strictly Kindle for books.  Plus, I can have a book on the Kindle, ready to read in less than a minute!  What's not to love?!

Well, I'll tell ya what's not to love.  Unless the price of the larger Kindle comes down, (and has a color display), comic books will never find an audience on the Kindle.  And that's fine with me.

So You've Got Some Cool Collectibles, Now What?

I'm of the opinion that if you can't open and display your action figures/statues/prop replicas, then what's the point.  When I was younger, and primarily bought action figures, I would display them on bookshelves.  Now that I've moved on to higher-end statues, I have a nice display case to show them off.

Display case pricing and quality can vary widely, but I've found that IKEA is a great source for nice, inexpensive display cases.

I use the Detolf cabinet in the Alter Ego Comics retail store, and it works very well for mini-busts, Premium Format Figures, and a variety of statues.  Best of all, it's only $60!

Mark as Gift?

I've been selling online via Alter Ego Comics since 2003, and I've had international customers from the get go.  In fact, some of my best customers live outside of the United States.  However, my staff and I are asked, almost daily, if we will declare a lower value on a purchased item and mark it as a gift to save the international buyer some money.

While many of my competitors seem to have no problem doing this, (especially those that do not have brick and mortar locations like we do), I am a legitimate, law-abiding businessman.  That's right - declaring a lower value on a purchased item is against the law.  It's fraud.  That's why I won't do it.  Sorry, folks.